By Staff Correspondent
Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) was established as a Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) under the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Government of India (GoI) on 16 July 1970 in Hyderabad to manufacture missiles for the Indian Army. Over the years, the Company has evolved into a multi-product, multi-located enterprise serving the multiple defence requirements of the Indian Armed Forces.
BDL manufactures Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs), Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs), Air-to-Air Missiles (AAMs), Air-to-Surface Weapons, Launchers for ATGMs, Test Equipment, Underwater Weapons and Counter Measure Systems. BDL also provides services for the Refurbishment and Life Extension of vintage missiles. The Company is also making inroads into new areas, such as drone-delivered payloads like Bombs, Missiles, Mines, etc.
After establishing itself as the backbone of India’s missile armoury with advanced missile systems and buoyed by the ‘Make in India’ policy and ‘Ease of Doing Business’ approach of the government, BDL is shifting gears to take a leap from making weapons for Indian Armed Forces to manufacturing weapons for armed forces of friendly countries of the world by leveraging indigenous technology.
BDL offers a distinct array of products for export to friendly nations. These include ATGMs (Man Portable ATGMs, Amogha-III Nag, Konkurs-M), SAMs (Akash Weapon System), AAMs (Astra Weapon System), Air-to-Surface Weapons (Smart Anti-Air Field Weapon and HELINA), Torpedoes (Light Weight Torpedo and Heavy Weight Torpedo) and Counter Measure Systems (Counter Measures Dispensing System and Anti-Submarine Warfare Suite).
BDL has already forayed into the Export Market by exporting Light Weight Torpedoes to a friendly foreign country. The Company is also receiving leads from several countries for its exportable products.
To cater to the growing demands and need to offer state-of-the-art weapons to the Armed Forces, BDL is augmenting the resources for infrastructure developments, and emphasis is being given to optimally investing for modernisation requirements. Thrust is being given to exploring tie-ups with foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for new weapons for the potential Transfer of Technology (ToT) and DRDO programmes.
BDL has three manufacturing units, out of which two are located at Hyderabad and Bhanur in Telangana and one at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. BDL is setting up three additional units, one at Ibrahimpatnam in Telangana, the second at Amravati in Maharashtra and the third at Jhansi in the UP Defence Corridor.
Giving a new impetus to its endeavours to enhance its current market position, BDL has adopted key strategies focussing on the following.
Expanding Infrastructure: The Company intends to continue to invest in infrastructure. The upcoming manufacturing facilities at Jhansi, Ibrahimpatnam and Amravati will enable the company to cater to the growing demand of its customers. These manufacturing facilities shall be utilised to manufacture SAMs and other new-generation missiles and armaments.
Automation: BDL has constantly been upgrading its manufacturing technologies and processes to state-of-the-art including industry 4.0, Robotics operated workshops, latest Surface Mounted Devices assembly lines and maintains the highest quality standards in its products by adopting the best Quality Assurance (QA) practices. The pursuit results in a reduction in production cost, benchmarking of productivity norms, modernisation of management system, and less dependence on imported technology. The Company intends to automate its production systems where feasible to increase productivity.
Focus on Research & Development: BDL intends to increase its R&D activities to develop innovative products for its customers. BDL’s R&D expenses have grown significantly over the past few years. The Company believes that developing new products will enable it to diversify its offerings and mitigate product dependencies. The Company has also established the missile development group intending to design and develop missiles. BDL is developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) based products. Thrust is also being given to efforts towards the Innovation of in-house developed products. Synergy is being maintained between the industry and academia to sustain a balance between experience and the knowledge industry.
Improving Processes: The Company also intends to carry out process improvements to enhance the productivity and efficiency of its operations and thereby lower costs.
New Generation Weapons: BDL intends to leverage its experience to develop weapons such as new generation SAMs, ATGMs, Air to Air Missile Systems and heavyweight torpedoes, which will enable the Company to further increase its revenues. BDL is also the joint development partner-cum production agency with the DRDO for the next generation of ATGMs, Air to Air Missile and SAMs. BDL has also entered into several MoUs and non-disclosure agreements with various companies for developing new products and ToTs.
Indigenisation: BDL is thrusting on indigenisation to achieve self-reliance in its manufacturing and offers competitively priced products to its customers. In the foreign collaboration programs that BDL has entered into, the company has been successful in indigenising several items, over and above the contracted indigenisation content percentage, with the support of OEMs. The average percentage of indigenisation across BDL is between 80 to 90 percent.
During its over five decades of journey, BDL has graduated from being a missile manufacturer to a Weapon System Integrator. While BDL is relentlessly contributing to making the Indian Armed Forces Atmanirbhar, it is also endeavouring to export its ‘Made in India’ products to friendly countries to safeguard their boundaries with futuristic weapons. The quest for technological excellence has been the guiding principle of BDL and living up to the sobriquet, ‘THE FORCE BEHIND PEACE’.
